Problems

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Peter marks several cells on a \(5 \times 5\) board. His friend, Richard, will win if he can cover all of these cells with non-overlapping corners of three squares, that do not overlap with the border of the square (you can only place the corners on the squares). What is the smallest number of cells that Peter should mark so that Richard cannot win?

Every day, James bakes a square cake size \(3\times3\). Jack immediately cuts out for himself four square pieces of size \(1\times1\) with sides parallel to the sides of the cake (not necessarily along the \(3\times3\) grid lines). After that, Sarah cuts out from the rest of the cake a square piece with sides, also parallel to the sides of the cake. What is the largest piece of cake that Sarah can count on, regardless of Jack’s actions?

In a \(10 \times 10\) square, all of the cells of the upper left \(5 \times 5\) square are painted black and the rest of the cells are painted white. What is the largest number of polygons that can be cut from this square (on the boundaries of the cells) so that in every polygon there would be three times as many white cells than black cells? (Polygons do not have to be equal in shape or size.)

Several pieces of carpet are laid along a corridor. Pieces cover the entire corridor from end to end without omissions and even overlap one another, so that over some parts of the floor lie several layers of carpet. Prove that you can remove a few pieces, perhaps by taking them out from under others and leaving the rest exactly in the same places they used to be, so that the corridor will still be completely covered and the total length of the pieces left will be less than twice the length corridor.

Four lamps need to be hung over a square ice-rink so that they fully illuminate it. What is the minimum height needed at which to hang the lamps if each lamp illuminates a circle of radius equal to the height at which it hangs?

Two people had two square cakes. Each person made 2 straight cuts from edge to edge on their cake. After doing this, one person ended up with three pieces, and the other with four. How could this be?